Exactly a year later, the 2022 Special Olympics Winter Games will kick off in Kazan, Russia. More than 2,000 Special Olympics athletes from more than 100 countries will compete in seven sports, supported by 3,000 volunteers.

The World Winter Games of the Special Olympics Kazan 2022 will demonstrate the power of a world of inclusion, equality, kindness and joy. The games aim to create inclusive societies by changing attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities in the world.

 Special Olympics CEO Mary Davis said: “Special Olympics is proud to host the 2022 World Winter Games in Kazan, Russia. Kazan has proven itself as a city capable of hosting major international sporting events, and I am confident that the 2022 World Winter Games will leave a lasting legacy of Integration into Russia and it will show the world that sport is a catalyst for inclusion and peace. "

With a membership of 130,000 athletes, Special Olympics Russia hosts 5,000 events for people with intellectual disabilities in a regular year. The World Winter Games in Kazan will help the Russian Special Olympics create social inclusion for the country's estimated 3 million people with intellectual disabilities.

 "The World Winter Games in Kazan will create an atmosphere of joy and kindness and break barriers and traditions. When it comes to integrating people with intellectual disabilities, we see that we are more similar than we are different," said Olga Slotskyer, President of Russia's Special Olympics. Sport has the power to bring people together, The World Winter Games in Kazan 2022 will build a culture of inclusiveness around the world. "